Burial-casket.



PATENTED JAN. 7, 1908.

P. N. WATT & H. C. KEELOR.

BURIAL GASKET.

ArPLIoATIoN FILED 1m14.190s.

2 SHBBTS-SHEBT l.

Humm' .lllmul 11 INI/ENTDRS;

ATTORA/EX No. 876,031. PATBNTED JAN. 7, 1908.

' P. N. WATT @L H. 0. KEBLOR.

BURIAL GASKET.

APPLIOATION FILED MAY4. 1906.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

WTNEBSES @11M 65cm/V14 y w UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

FRANK N. WATT AND HARRY C. KEELOR, OF RICHMOND, INDIANA.

BURIAL-GASKET.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Jan. 7, 1908.

Application filed May 4:. 1906. Serial No. 315.171.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that we, FRANK N. VA'rT and HARRY C. Knapen, citizens of theUnited States, residing in the city of Richmond, in the county of layneand State of lndiana, and doing business in said city under the iirmnaine of Vatt & Keeler, have invented certain new and usefulImprovements in Burial- Gaskets of which the following is a full, clear,and comprehensive specification.

Our invention consists in a burial-casket having a top hinged at theback, a front panel portion hinged at the bottom, and means forindirectly connecting the top and the movable panel whereby the top andsaid panel may operate coincidently, or if desired independently of eachother,the former being accomplished by simply operating` the top, thepanel operating automatically; and in the other instance by simplyplacing ones hand against the panel, to hold in place, the

-top may be operated independently of and Without actuating the panel.

The construction and operation of our invention is shown in theaccompanying drawing, in which-- Figure 1 shows a front elevation of acasket closed, in which is incorporated our present invention; Fig. Zshows a front elevation of a casket exhibited in open position,simulating what is recognized by the trade as a couchcasket; Fig. 3 is adetail view showing the face of the cam, which cam is formed on the headof the barrel of .the telescoping arm Fig. 4 is a transverse sectionalview of the casket closed, same being taken on the line XM1( of Fig. 1,and in the direction indicated by the arrows on said. line; F 5 is atransverse sectional view of the casket open, as taken on the line YY ofFig. 2, and as looking in the direction indicated by the arrows of saidline; Fig. 6 is a cross sectional view of the casket, showing the toppartly open and the 'front closed; Fig. 7 is a central longitudinaldetail Vsectional view of the telescopic arm Fig. S is a detail plan,showing a portion of the casket partly in section, and Fig. Q is adetail view of the head and cam, which is a part of the telescoping armmechanism.

Similar indices denote like parts throughout the several views.

The casket proper comprises the bottom A; the vertical back B; thepermanent portions of the front C; the ends D and D; and the top E,substantially as indicated, al-

as desired in order to meet varying condi' tions.

The numeral 1 designates the movable panel or front which is adapted tolit and close the aperture therefor `formed in the front C, and thispanel forms the greater portion of the Vfront of the casket. The panel 1is mounted by the hinges 2 to the front C whereby it may be opened outand down, operative between the limits indicated in Figs. 1 and 2, andalso in Figs. 4 and 5. The top E is mounted by hinges F to the upperedge of the back B whereby it may be opened and closed as indicated inthe drawings.

The essential requisite to the success of our invention is the lever,shown most clearly in Fig. S, which lever comprises three particularportions: The shaft or central por-- tion 3;l the Vflattened strapportion' and the arm portion 3, the said strap and arm portions areoppositely disposed and are formed approximately at right angles to thecentral portion with which they are integral. The strap portieri of thelever is secured to the inner face of the right-hand end of the panel 1by screws or the like, as shown in Fig. S; the shaft portion of saidlever projects to the right from said strap portion and it is mountedin. a channel formed therefor in the front C, whereby said shaft isalined with the hinged. edges of the members C and 1, as shown. Anaperture 4 is 'formed through the extreme right-hand end of the member Cfor the arm of the lever to operate in, as shown in Figs. (S and S. Saidaperture 4 and the lever of course being covered by a carving or by thecasket trimmings, when the casket is completed, as shown in Figs. 1 and2. From the above it is evident that the panel 1 maybe opened and closedby the movement of the arm of said lever.

The numeral 5 designates the barrel of the telescopic arm, on the lowerend of which is attached the head carrying integrally therewith on itsinner face the cam 7. The extreme upper end of the barrel 5 is flattenedand is provided with an eye formed centrally therethrough for the pivotS. The pivot S is secured to the inner `face of the right-hand end ofthe top E, being located at the proper predetermined point,substantially as shown, to hold the upper end of the barrel 5 pivotallyin place.

The numeral 9 denotes the wrist member though these parts may bevariously changed or wrist-rod member of the arm, being in fact mary ofthe operation,

a rod adapted to snugly operate in the interior space of the barrel 5.The outer end of the wrist member 9 is flattened with a pivot eyetherethrough to register with the pivot eye of the arm of the leverabove referred to. The said pivot eye of the arm of the lever and thelike pivot eye of the Wrist member 9 are brought into registeringposition and they are then pivotally connected by the rivet 10.

From the above it will be observed that we now have the top E and thepanel 1 indirectly and flexibly connected, and the remainder of themechanism shown is contributed simply to assure the operation of saidparts positively and in their proper sequence.

The numeral 1 1 has reference to a track for the cam 7 to impingeagainst and be led in the desired curvature when in the upper course ofits travel, the function thereof being made more clear in the followingsum- Said track is secured by screws to the inner face of the end D atthe place substantially as shown, its contour being approximately asindicated.

The numeral 12 denotes a coil spring which may be considered anonessential, but its employment precludes all possibility of the partsfailing to operate when called into action. For the utilization of thespring 12 the inner end of the rivet 10 should be provided with an eyein which the mov able end of said spring is secured, as indicated inFig. 8, after which the spring is eX- tended to give it the desiredforce, and its permanent end is then secured to the inner face of theend D at a point approximately as shown. The torsion of the spring 12,and the point where it is secured to the end D, is such as to, normally,cause the panel 1 to open out from its closed position, and then afterthe panel has passed its horizontal point in opening then the springcounteracts the tendency of the panel to drop to its o en limit, butrather acting as a cushion wrhereby the weight of the panel on the partsis practically nil.

Suppose for instance that the casket is closed, as in Figs. 1 and 4, nowby lifting up the lidit is apparent that the barrel 5 will be drawnrearward endwise, at the same time pulling the wrist member or rod 9, byreason of the tightness of said wrist member in said barrel, assisted bythe spring 12, which in turn will pull upon the arm of the lever 3thereby turning the lever and forcing, or at least allowing, the panel 1to turn outward and downward upon its hinges. In turning back the topwhen the cam 7 reaches the rear portion of the track 11 -it will bedeflected upwards thereby to the vorteX of the track, which point itwill reach simultaneous with the top reaching the perpendicular, andwhich will lock the top from further move- .ment backward, and when thetop 'has reached this last named position the panel will have moved toits transposed open position. And again, suppose the casket to beclosed, now if one hand of the operator be placed against the face ofthe panel to hold it from movement, it is apparent that the top may beopened and closed with the other hand without actuating the panel, as isrepresented in Fig. 6, in which instance the barrel 5 will be moved backand forth over the wrist member 9. In closing the casket it will be seenthat the head 6 will be conducted downward at the proper curvature,

by reason of the cam 7 being caused to operate against the forwardportion of the track 1,1, and thereby preventing the wrist member 9 fromtelescoping into the barrel 5, which precaution is not necessary afterthe cam has been conducted some distance downward, as by that time theweight of the panel will incline to cause the wrist member tofrictionally grasp within the barrel, and the cam will leave the trackof its own accord.

We desire to accentuate the fact that wev are not limited to thespecific details of construction herein set forth, but that we may makevarious changes and modifications in the details without departing fromthe spirit and principles of our invention.

Having now shown and described our invention and the best method for itsconstrue-- tion to us known at this time, what we claim and desire tosecure by Letters Patent of theb United States, is

1. In a burial casket the combination, of the body having a hinged topand a hinged front, a lever connected to one of the lower corners of thehinged front and with its arm adapted to describe the segment of acircle inside the casket as the front is opened and closed, a telescopicarm pivoted to the inside of the top and to saidarm of the lever, a camcarried on said telescopic arm, a permanent track against which said cammay engage, and a spring adapted to draw inwards on the arm of saidlever, all substantially as shown and described and for the purposes setforth.

2. A burial casket comprising in combination a receptacle having ahinged top, and an outwardly and downwardly swinging front, a barrelpivoted at one end to the inside of the top, a lever connected to saidfront the arm of said lever being operative inside the casket, aWrist-rod secured at one end to said lever and tightly operative in saidbarrel, and a spring also secured to said lever and having a permanentpoint of attachment inside the casket, all substantially as shown anddescribed and for the purposes set forth.

3. In a burial casket comprising the receptacle, an upwardly andbackwardly swinging top, an outwardly and downwardly swinging front, alever connected to said front by which the front may be opened andclosed, and a telescoping arm pivoted to said lever and to said topwhereby the lront will normally open and close automatically with atedindependently thereof. the opening and closing ot' the top, and Intestimony whereof we have hereunto whereby thev top may be opel ed andclosed subscribed our naine@` to this specification in 15 if the frontbe held closed., all substantially l the presence of two subscribingwitnesses, as Shown and deseribed. this the 30th day ol April, 1906.

4. The Combination in a burial easlet, a i VFRANK N. l/VATT, swingingtop, a swinging front, and means HARRY C. KEELOR. for indirectlyconnecting the top and thel front whereby the lront will normally be yoperated by the operation ol the top7 or if l the liront be held closedthe top may be oper- Yitnessesz Y A,lNniA BALLENGER, ROBERT W. HANDLE.

